NAIROBI: Autodesk Africa is support of the Kenya Copyright Board has announced that users of pirated software should approach their local channel partners and purchase legal versions of AutoCAD software and other related software products. “The key to changing a region's mindset about software piracy is to make the legitimate product more accessible and affordable to local businesses,” explains Eric Mule, Managing Director of Autodesk's distribution partner in East Africa, WorldsView Technologies. Research shows that most Autodesk customers prefer to buy licensed software, but lack of knowledge on where to find licensed copies of the software results to the customers using pirated copies that don't have most of the benefits such as after sales support and upgrades. He added that: “Now that customers are able to access our software more easily, we are offering an opportunity to those customers who know they are using illegal copies of Autodesk software, to come forward and trade in their illegal software for a legal copy without fear of prosecution.” The announcement was made at a conference attended by senior Autodesk executives, local channel partners and industry professionals and they focused on the economic impacts of software piracy in East Africa region.
